While Cornejo and De Sole celebrated a lifetime of work, Jonathan Anderson’s International Designer nod capped off an epic year that started with dressing Rihanna at the Super Bowl. Diotima’s Rachel Scott, meanwhile, is at the beginning of her own journey. Picking up the Emerging Designer Award, the Jamaican newcomer said, “for me to be seen means that the people of Jamaica and of the Caribbean are also being seen.”
It was diversity and the power of expressing one’s individuality that Serena Williams championed when accepting her Fashion Icon Award from Kim Kardashian. Ditto Willy Chavarria when he took the stage to receive the Award for Menswear Designer: “I think it’s important for us to incorporate humanity into what we do,” he said. “Fashion has always been so much about glamour, which we all want to do, but we can still do that by loving one another.”
Second—and even third—acts were a theme of the night. Gwyneth Paltrow scooped up the Innovation Award presented by Amazon Fashion for her 15 years of running. “I hope you see that we have all the power to forge our own paths, to be multihyphenates,” she said. Her words were echoed by Vera Wang, the former Vogue editor who received the Board of Directors’s Tribute for her contribution to the bridal category: “For a fashion veteran like myself who barely made it to the altar at 40, let alone spend 30 plus years creating wedding gowns, this is an unbelievable moment and as ironic as it is miraculous,” Wang said.
Mara Hoffman was also recognized for her reinvention; she pivoted her label from a successful swimsuit business to the sustainable-first enterprise it is today, and received the Environmental Sustainability Award from Rosario Dawson for her efforts. And Khaite’s Catherine Holstein just keeps gaining momentum; she won the Womenswear Designer of the Year Award for the second year in a row.
“Fashion, like all creative acts, is a sign of culture, which is to say, a sign of life,” said Anne Hathaway, the evening’s host. “The ability to express nuance with fabric is a gift you all possess which I value so deeply, and the ability to do so six times a year without repeating yourself and missing a beat? I’m in awe,” she added, much to the crowd’s delight. “Fashion is a dream we can all live in.” And now on to the next.
